Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Vox by Christina Dalcher

17 reviews

sadiaa's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

Pros
Interesting oremise - reminiscent of the handmaids tale
Loved the short chapters
Was fast paced, read it in a day

Cons
Second half of the book was lacking, not sure I understood the ending

so Patrick saves the day, but all we know is that he went into the building and ran out as the building was being locked down and was shot by a rooftop sniper but I'm confused on what Patrick actually did.

 
Also I know this is based on jeans story, but I would've liked to have known more about Patrick, his perspective

working for the administration whilst also being a part of the resistance, trying to bring them down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Blood

serinalovesreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Torture, Homophobia, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Child abuse

kazik's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Vomit, and Gun violence

stormwise's review against another edition

tense

2.0

I was very excited for this book - I'm obsessed with language and linguistics - but the execution...left much to be desired. 

My biggest gripe with this book was the pacing. With 326 pages split into 80 chapters, the narrative felt very choppy - this was occasionally effective when moving between the present and flashbacks, but overall it just made it harder to follow the story, especially as the plot picked up. Speaking of the plot, the ending was an absolute mess. The story fizzled out in a confusing collection of scenes that we are mostly told about rather than shown, in which

a character is dramatically killed off - conveniently fixing a romance plot point.

I have certain expectations of contemporary social dystopian novels, especially those aimed at adults. One of those expectations is a certain degree of Intersectionality. Dalcher includes gay and lesbian (side) characters and examines what happens to them under the Pure regime, but fails to include trans people - which I would be more forgiving of if she hadn't chosen to have her protagonist use the acronym 'LGBTQIA'. If you're just going to focus on the L and G, why even mention the rest? 
 I was annoyed further by the fact that Dalcher is clearly aware of the issue of intersectionality - halfway through the book,

the protagonist meets a black woman who predicts that she and her mixed race marriage will be treated more harshly by the Pure regime in the future.

"Oh, good," I thought, "we'll see more about how other social groups are treated." It is then never mentioned ever again. 
 I'm not saying that I wanted to see black or trans people (or any other marginalised group) being treated badly in fiction, but it felt disingenuous that a plot device rooted so deeply in Conservative American values was for all intents and purposes merely sexist and homophobic, and not racist and transphobic. 

(I also found the way that Jackie, a lesbian feminist protestor, was presented...a bit icky. "Feminism is good, but if you're too shouty and don't dress nicely then don't be surprised when you're branded as hysterical!" And don't get me started on the love confession flashback. Classic lesbians, amirite?)

Overall this book felt more like an exploration of the science and philosophy of the concept than an actual novel. The first few chapters of world building were very engaging but once the plot kicked it, it all fell apart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Torture, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal cruelty

whatellieread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

“Her speech is like music, but the lyrics are all wrong.”

I was so intrigued by the concept of this one from the second I saw it in a second-hand bookshop last year. I haven’t read much, if any, dystopian fiction since I was a teenager, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one and it reminded me of how much I love the “what if this *did* happen?” element of reading a dystopian novel. 

There was a lot I loved about this book - particularly the emotion built up throughout, and Christina Dalcher’s writing style. The imagery at some points was INCREDIBLE. I was, however, disappointed with the ending. What felt like a well-paced, thought-out build up culminated in a rushed, somewhat anticlimactic ending. That being said, I did still enjoy the book, and liked the build up enough to still consider this a 4 star read, despite the ending. Additionally, as someone with a degree focussed entirely around the power of language, I was particularly excited by the concept of the book, and really enjoyed the inclusion of some linguistic details.

Overall an enjoyable read and I would definitely read more by this author in future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion

Animal testing,

kleindoeil's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Should be a compulsory read at school mainly in the US but in every part of the world too....
Too many feels crossing my mind after this read but mainly anger and sparks to fight for the rights of everyone and for the end of toxic masculinity 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Infidelity, Homophobia, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

myreading_nook's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt